1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article loading system for sequentially loading articles picked by workers from plural picking areas into a container on a picking area-basis.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional article holding system employs a system capable of implementing what is called an assembly-line operation in which a container is transported using a long unicursal conveyor, and workers load articles (products) into the container in sequence from the upstream direction of the conveyor, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-23967, for example. As a specific example of a conventional article loading system, there is a system in which: picking areas holding plural types of articles are set up at plural points near the unicursal conveyor; an attending worker assigned to each of the picking areas picks an article to be loaded into a container travelling from upstream before the container arrives at the point; the workers load the articles into the containers at the points along the conveyor; and this task is performed in sequence in the downstream direction of the conveyor and, in the end, the container containing all the necessary articles is carried out from the conveyor.
However, setting up a unicursal conveyor and picking areas so as to be spread out near the conveyor requires a wide space. Furthermore, increasing the number of containers to be processed in a short period of time requires many workers and, in addition, requires the lengthening of the conveyor. Furthermore, there is the problem that a disruption in the task of loading an article in the container at any point along the conveyor affects the entire conveyor, and article loading work efficiency easily deteriorates.